SKY raiDErS

Lior Chefetz about SKY raiDErS

“We found a small airfield that had a few old planes scattered around”

Anyone who gets a kick out of airplanes and aerobatics will certainly get their money’s worth in Lior Chefetz’ debut film. But SKY RAIDERS is not just about the roaring of engines. It is also the story of a boy learning to cope with his father’s death, an old man who sees the past revived, and a beautiful bond between a boy and a girl.

When Yotam and his classmate Noa find a rare antique plane, they try to bring it back to life. This means they have to team up with Morris, an 80 year old grumpy loner.

Films have been made about children dreaming of getting their own dog, their own bicycle or their own horse… but dreaming about their own airplane?!

Lior Chefetz: The idea came from an old children’s book that my mother gave me for my 6th birthday. ADVENTURE IN THE SQUADRON by Oded Marom tells about two boys restoring an old fighter plane with the help of their old pediatrician. As a child I loved that book, but I forgot all about it. 25 years later, coming home from film school for a summer vacation, I found it in my old library.

The film opens with an air battle and ends with a spectacular air show.

Chefetz: I love airplanes, especially Warbirds. Those World War II classic fighters are beautiful machines with a lot of history and human drama connected to them. SKY RAIDERS opens with a dogfight between British Spitfires and German Messerschmitts over the English Channel, part of the famous Battle of Britain. In the end of the film again there is a Spitfire and a Messerschmitt, this time in a contemporary setting.

How did you capture those scenes?

Chefetz: The actors were filmed inside a fake cockpit, in front of a green screen. The cockpit was static – we didn’t have the resources to put it on a moving platform – with a moving light imitating the sun. The shadows moving across the actors’ face create an illusion of the plane turning and rolling. For the exterior shots, in which you see the planes flying in the air, we had to create two elements: the backgrounds, which were filmed with the use of a drone, and the planes, which are mostly 3D models. Working with the actors was the least complicated part of the production. Amir Tessler and Hila Nathanzon were 13 and 15 and I didn’t notice any difference from working with adult actors, except maybe a sugar rush after eating chocolate...

Some of your locations are tickling my imagination: a warehouse full of planes, an airplane cemetery...

Chefetz: I was hoping to film in a huge airplane cemetery like those in Arizona. But in Israel those places are in restricted military bases. However we found a small municipal airfield that had a few old planes scattered around. At first the managers didn’t

want us there: a film crew with kids and an active airfield is not a good mix. But when he heard that we are doing a movie based on that children’s book, he couldn’t believe his ears – it had always been his favourite! From that point on we could do whatever we liked - shoot around the old planes, inside hangars, borrow an old engine and even film a crazy chase on the runway. We also had a couple of days in the Israeli Air Force Museum to film the two historic planes: the Black Spitfire and the only relic of an Israeli Messerschmitt. Then we scouted tons of hangars, until we found a very old oranges storehouse. It is rusty, has lots of echo and pigeons living in the rafters. We ended up using a lot of the pigeons’ sound in the sound design.

This is also the story of a mother and son dealing with a great loss.

Chefetz: Writing about a child who lost his father is a classic cliché. However it’s a strong tool to create emotional connection and motivate our hero, so I decided to keep it but make the character as specific as possible. If we gave the hero an emotional truth to motivate his actions, it could work. Yotam rather doesn’t talk about his father, or only in a nonchalant way, as if it’s not a big deal. The truth is that he hasn’t completely processed the loss, and buries it under layers of emotional protection. sweat of the many pilots that sat inside and took this machine into many daring adventures.

i suppose there are female pilots in the national air force?

Chefetz: For many years women could not serve as pilots in the Israel Air Force, and opening the course to women was not an easy change. The military opposed at first and only after a supreme court ruling 20 years ago, the course opened for women. Since then a handful of women managed to complete the course. Few other combat roles are still closed to women and currently debates are being held in the courts regarding this issue. I support the right of any person to choose what they would like to do, regardless of their gender, so it was important for me to make a point about it and show how Noa can be as good of a pilot as anyone else.

Have you made a film with a gigantic ecological footprint?

Chefetz: That is a very important point. The struggle for our environment is crucial, and I support the young generation who fight to save the planet. I’m proud that we managed to make a movie about planes without a single airplane flying especially for our production. Every plane that takes off on the screen is a computer-generated 3D image. On a broader thought, one may ask if air shows are necessary in our time, as the planes burn so much fuel. Maintaining old planes in flying condition, preserving the technical knowledge of their operation, has its own cultural value. It is important to discuss how to protect the cultural heritage of aviation, while protecting our environment.

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Gert Hermans © Ale Kino! Festival

in the film i feel a great respect for what people create, craft or repair with their hands. as Morris says: “There’s something special about old machines.”

Chefetz: I like antiques and hand-crafted things. But the idea that an old machine has a spirit came from the Japanese term “Kami” which are the spirits or “holy powers” that are venerated in the Shinto religion. I feel that old planes have some spirit in them as well, as each part was hand-crafted, and the cockpit is soaked with the

ECFA Journal Published by ECFA European Children’s Film Association Place de l’Amitié 6, 1160 Brussels, Belgium

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ECFA’s goal is to support cinema for children and youth in its cultural, economical, aesthetic, social, political and educational aspects. Since 1988 ECFA brings together a wide range of European film professionals and associations, producers, directors, distributors. ECFA aims to set up a working structure in every European country for films for children and young people, a structure adapted to Europe’s multicultural interests.

For more information and memberships (€ 250 per year): ECFA European Children’s Film Association Phone: +32 (0)475 55 02 97 Email: mail@ecfaweb.org Website: www.ecfaweb.org

The European Children’s Film Distribution Network: www.ecfaweb.org/european-childrens-film-network/network Databases on children’s film festivals, sales agents, distributors and TV-programmers interested in European films for children. ECFA Journal No. 2-2021

Contributors to this issue:

Gert Hermans (Editor) Reinhold Schöffel, Felix Vanginderhuysen, Margret Albers, Gudrun Sommer, Anne Schultka, Xiaojuan Zhou, Jerzy Moszkowicz, Tanja Tlatlik, Uta Beth, Anna Malinowska, Marija Ratković Vidaković, Alice Goezu, Fulko Kuindersma, Marja Pyykkö, Pierre Coré, Siebe Dumon, Antonia Grimaldi, Linda Teutrine, Helga Arnardottir, Bragi Thor Hinriksson, Mads Halvorsen, Lara Aerts, Kirstin van Knippen, Bente Keulen, Paulina Jacob, Lior Chefetz.

Proofreading: Adam Graham Design: Stefan Koeneke ECFA website: Udo Lange